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fact of coming into life, or of being born; -- generally applied to human beings; as, the birth of a son.

son is born; day of origin or commencement. Those barbarous ages past, succeeded next The birthday of invention. Cowper.

The land of one's birth; one's inheritance. [R.] Shak.

Anything added to raise the sides of a ship. Bailey.

Of mean extraction. [R.] Sir W. Scott.

Some peculiar mark or blemish on the body at birth. Most part of this noble lineage carried upon their body for a natural birthmark, . . . a snake. Sir T. North.

nniversary of that night in succeeding years. The angelic song in Bethlehem field, On thy birthnight, that sung thee Savior born. Milton.

The town, city, or country, where a person is born; place of origin or birth, in its more general sense. "The birthplace of valor." Burns.

Any right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution; esp. the rights or inheritance of the first born. Lest there be any . . . profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Heb.…

An herbaceous plant (Trillium erectum), and its astringent rootstock, which is said to have medicinal properties.

A genus of herbs and shrubs (Aristolochia), reputed to have medicinal properties.

The placenta and membranes with which the fetus is connected, and which come away after delivery.

The act of bringing forth a child; travail; labor. Jer. Taylor.

Any preternatural labor, in whiche the boly of the child lies across the pelvis of the mother, so that the shoulder, arm, or trunk is the part first presented at the mouth of the uterus.

The birth of a dead fetus.

"At a birth"; "In a word"; "At a blow". Shak.

An untimely birth. [Obs.] Sir H. Wotton.

The act of giving premature birth; particularly, the expulsion of the human fetus prematurely, or before it is capable of sustaining life; miscarriage.

A man who assists women in childbirth; a man midwife; an obstetrician.

The pains which succeed childbirth, as in expelling the afterbirth.